Backfire (Furies MC Book 4)

by Harley McRide

  Hell, she had even requested a transfer to the division office in LA just to be closer to him and the guys. This was supposed to be her last mission before moving. Loki had already found her several homes in the area to purchase, she only needed to look at them. After this, he was going to make sure she was moving. It had been months since he had seen her and right now, thinking it could be the last time, it was unacceptable. She was his mother, and he was not going to lose her too soon.

  The pilot nodded at him when he climbed up the stairs. Loki moved to one of the chairs and sat down, pulling out the small computer he would need and booted it up. Fling and the others had sent his go bag with everything he would need ahead of him, now all he needed to do was get up to date on what his mother had been doing in Singapore.

  Loki was so into what he was doing he didn’t realize when someone else got on the plane with him. It wasn’t until he heard someone clearing their throat he looked up and frowned. “Can I help you?” Loki asked the stranger who was sitting in a seat close to him.

  Loki did a quick inspection of the man; he was in the military with that haircut, there was no other profession he could be in. He was also a huge motherfucker, broad shoulders, and long legs, dark hair, and a shit ton of tats. Yeah, he was in the military. Loki spied one of the tats on his forearm, Ranger, great. What the fuck was he doing on his flight? No one was supposed to be here but him or a brother, and this dude was not a brother.

  The man lifted his head and said, “You can ask, but it doesn't mean I am answering.”

  Loki frowned, really? What the fuck? He was about ready to open his mouth when a bag came flying through the open door and land on the floor in front of them. Then another stranger jumped into the cabin and smiled.

  “Right on!” the stranger yelled and raised his hands like he scored a touchdown and then he looked to Loki and the other stranger. “This is gonna be off the fucking hook!”

  Fuck, Loki thought, a military man and a fucking hippy-geek. That is the only thing he could think of when he saw the man who had just arrived. He was wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses, had long curly, sun bleached, blond hair, and wore striped pants and a hemp shirt. Oh yeah, hippie. The only difference was the tats the man had on his arms, they seemed out of place.

  The pilot stuck his head out of the door, and all three of them turned and stared at him as he said, “Everyone’s here, so get strapped in, we are taking off in five.”

  The man who was standing moved to a seat and Loki held up his hand. “Hang the fuck on; no one is supposed to be on this flight but me. So who the fuck are you guys and why the fuck are you on my plane? And make it quick, I am on a timeline and don’t have time for long ass explanations.”

  The man who was standing, the one who looked like a surfer on crack, smiled big and said, “Man, Boony sent me, told me you needed some specialized help. So here I am. Oh, and I totally have some specialized training too, bud. See I was in the military, and then—”

  “I said quickly,” Loki growled.

  The man shrugged and losing his smile, said, “Cool, I was a tank driver and weapons specialist for the Army, but currently I am a hacker, one you are going to need to get your mom out of the clink. And find the man who released the information.” His long bleach blond hair and lanky build contradicted what he said, but Boony wouldn’t have sent someone useless. But it was the deadly look in the man's eyes that told the real story, and that convinced Loki more than anything.

  “Name?” Loki snapped.

  “Wesson Chambers, sir,” the man snapped and saluted him. Loki narrowed his eyes at the man, “But you can call me Shadow.”

  Loki stared intently waiting to see if the man would move or shift under scrutinization. There was nothing, not one flinch, and Loki knew that this man would stand up. Good. He turned his gaze to the man sitting down and saw he was leaning his head back with his eyes closed as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Loki knew differently, he could see the tension in his body.

  “And you?” he snapped, and the stranger opened one eye and turned his head but didn’t lift it up.

  “And me what?”

  “Name?” Loki growled, and the man shook his head.

  “Not sure you need to know that.”

  “Gimme your fucking name or get the fuck outta my plane,” Loki snapped.

  The man raised an eyebrow. “Your plane? I was under the assumption this was a military transport?”

  Loki leaned forward and said, “It may be, but it is my plane, your choice?”

  The stranger tilted his head and then said, “Anthony Rizzo, Jaci Thorne is my half-sister.”

  Loki frowned and then said, “How the fuck did you find out about this? According to my information, you were stationed overseas.”

  Anthony nodded and then said, “That is what it says.”

  The door shut loudly, and the hippie walked to a seat in behind them and plopped down loudly. “Lay it out for us, man.”

  “I am assuming you were both sent here to help not only Jaci but her partner, Carole, who is my mother,” Loki started, and the hippie leaned forward.

  “Man, your mom is a spy, that is so fucking cool. I mean, it’s like having a superhero for a parent.”

  Anthony turned and looked at the hippie. “Did your mother drop you on your head when you were younger?”

  Wesson grinned, but Loki could see the glint in his eyes, yeah, this man was deadly. “Nope, but it may be the weed I have been smoking.”

  Anthony shook his head and turned back. “My sister would never ask me for help unless some serious shit was going down. She sent me an email; it had our code word we used as kids, I knew she was in trouble, and I also knew she was with your mom. I did my research a long time ago when Jaci was approached by your mother. I also know who you are and what you do, which also surprised me a little, but apparently, there are people in the ranks who respect the shit out of you and your club. She didn’t know I was stateside, nor that at the end of my tour being medically discharged due to an injury, when she sent the email. So it was easy to get here. One of my supervisors gave me the heads up on the plane, told me if I got here, he was sure you would allow me to come. I am here and not giving you the option; I am coming. My sister is all I have left, and I will be damned if she gets lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. So you can bitch and moan all you want, I am here, and I am staying. Now, what the fuck do you know? Bring me up to speed.”

  Loki shook his head; the man reminded him of Fling, crazy. He moved his computer so both men could see the screen. Apparently, his president didn’t want him going alone, figures he would find a way to make sure Loki’s ass was covered.

  He clicked on the map and said, “Jaci was here when I talked to her last; she said it was safe there, and she would remain until I got there if she could. The official report says she is wanted for ‘Treason of a Foreign State.' Jaci’s and my mother’s covers were blown by a hacker; our government found the release of her name and Jaci’s, as well as where they were going to be just an hour after it was released, and by that time no one was able to contact my mother. Jaci contacted me, and I passed it on to my boss who smoothed the way to get the fuck out of dodge. Took a day or two longer than what I wanted, but getting to where we are going without anyone noticing is going to be hard, especially now with three of us.”

  Chapter Two

  Jaci woke up when she heard something snap outside her window, fuck, had they found her already? Kaden said he was on his way, but it hadn’t been long enough, she knew that. Moving slowly, she slid out of bed to the floor and then waited for a minute. She heard rustling; please let it be some creepy animal trying to find food.

  She moved across the floor on her hands and feet, trying to be quiet, she just needed to make it to her gun. Shit, she cringed when she heard the creak of the floor boards. When she arrived here, she noticed a few of the boards were loose and cracked; she had marked them, so she knew when she was near them they made noise, but dam
mit, she had been so tired last night. When she went to bed, she forgot to do it in the bedroom. Jaci froze in the awkward position for a second, and then she heard the rustling again, it was closer this time. She frowned, was it under the shack?

  Finally, she reached her gun, then stood up silently and grabbed it slowly. More noise, but this time there was a grunt with it. Okay, it was a person, not good, they had found her. She needed to make it to the backdoor, from there she had already planned her escape. However, she figured she would have more time, that the officials would approach the front door. The backdoor was hidden, but still, they could have found it.

  Jaci tilted her head when she heard a soft crying, what the fuck? She moved silently to the backdoor, making sure she didn’t step on any of the loose boards, warning whoever was under the house. Strange, she thought as she pulled open the door, the crying was still soft. She could feel the rain, fuck the mud was going to be a problem. It was hard to be silent when you were squishing through the rain. She hunched a little figuring walking out into the open could get her head blown off.

  She reached the far corner of the shack; it was where she knew there was a gap in the foundation where you could see under the base. She stared at the ground, there were no footprints, but there were little indentions in the mud. Jaci bent down and squinted as she looked under the house. The faint light from the shack behind theirs allowed her to see enough so she could see a tiny huddled figure in the corner.

  “Hey,” Jaci whispered softly. She saw a slight movement. “Please, it is raining, come out.”

  She waited but nothing, and she sighed. Shit, she would never leave someone so small in the rain and cold. She just needed to figure out how to get them to come out.

  Jaci reached into her back pocket. “Are you hungry?”

  She saw the small figure move a little, but it still didn’t turn fully to her, yeah they were hungry. Jaci and Carole had seen and talked about the abundance of homeless people in this country, especially the children, it was sad.

  “Hey,” Jaci said softly. “I have a snack if you are hungry. It is just a power bar, but it would help. Can you come out and get it?”

  Silence, but the small figure turned a little more. She wished she had a flashlight. She was getting soaked and was cold as well. The storm seemed to be getting stronger.

  “There is no way you can stay here. The storm is getting worse, and I can’t leave you here. Come on, please, I promise not to hurt you. I just want us to get warm and dry,” Jaci said softly and then she saw the little figure move toward her, slowly at first. She waited patiently when they got close enough so Jaci could see a face, she sucked in a breath. A child, not more than five appeared hesitantly, a little boy. She smiled at the child and held out the power bar, a tiny little hand reached out and grabbed it from her hand.

  “Are you cold?” she asked softly.

  The small boy stared at her, shit, maybe he didn’t understand her. Jaci opened her mouth to repeat herself in Mandarin when the little boy nodded slowly. She smiled and then scooted back and held out her hand. “You can come inside, I don’t mind, to get warm.”

  Again the boy hesitated, but she could see him clearly, he was thinking hard, which she assumed he was wondering if he could trust her. “I promise, I will not hurt you, I only want to get you dry and warmed up.”

  The boy slowly moved until they were both standing in the rain and Jaci walked slowly to the backdoor, and the boy followed her. He was skinny and filthy. The mud was caked on his legs so much she couldn’t tell if he was even wearing shoes, but the clothes he was wearing were torn and old. Shit, how could someone leave a child out in this type of storm? It was frustrating.

  By the time they got back into the shack, Jaci was shivering. She moved to where the old stove was, it was the only heat source, and she began to start a fire. Before going to bed, it hadn’t been this cold. She should have remembered to start the fire, but she hadn’t.

  The little boy stood at the door as if he was ready to bolt at any time. Jaci smiled at him as she built a fire in the stove. When it was finally going, the boy moved closer to the stove in order to feel the warmth. She moved to the small table and sat down at one of the chairs.

  “My name is Jaci,” she said softly, and the boy stared at her and them looked at the stove. He didn’t answer, just stared at the stove. “Why were you out in the rain? I am sure someone is worried about you. When you are dry, and the rain has stopped, I can walk you home.”

  The boy turned back to her and stared, and then he shook his head, and he said, “I have no home.”

  Jaci nodded and then said, “Where are your mother and father?”

  The boy looked at the fire and then shrugged. “Gone.”

  Jaci bit her lip, trying to sound calm while she tried to keep her anger down. Who would leave a child? She nodded and said, “Where?”

  The boy continued to look at the stove and shrugged, and then Jaci asked again, “What is your name?”

  “I do not have one,” he said quietly, and she flinched like she had been struck, how could a child not have a name, everyone did.

  “What do your friends call you?” she asked slowly.

  “I have no friends, no one speaks to me,” he said, and she shivered a little.

  “Well, I am your friend,” she said, and he turned and looked at her sadly.

  “No, you will leave too, and I will still be here.”

  She couldn’t argue because honestly, he was right, but she wasn’t going to think about that right now. Jaci just couldn’t. Moving into the small bedroom, she dug through her bag and found an old tee and carried it back into the main room. She held it up and said, “Here, why don’t you go and take a shower, the water is hot. When you are done, we can wash your clothes and eat while they dry.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Loki growled at Shadow, who during the trip Anthony had almost killed on one or more occasion.

  The man turned and frowned. “What?”

  Loki looked at his shoes and then back up to the man. “You wore sandals to a foreign country that you are not supposed to be in. What the fuck are you going to do if we have to run?”

  Shadow looked down at his feet and then back up. “I wore socks.”

  Loki looked up at the ceiling of the plane. They were just waiting for the pilot to give them the okay to leave. They landed at a small private airfield that was close to the coast. Anthony had checked all of his weapons, which Loki had admittedly been impressed by, but the guy was still a dick. Loki had made plans to get transportation arranged as well as a safehouse to use, which Fling had arranged apparently thanks to Coco, Anya’s friend.

  Anthony shook his head, and he said, “You look like a reject from the movie The Pineapple Express, Birkenstocks and white socks, with weird ass bell bottoms and a hemp shirt? I’m pretty sure you are a walking billboard for what the fuck you don’t want your kids to grow up to be.”

  Shadow frowned at him and said seriously, “Wore boots for eight years in the rain, the snow, fuck in the desert where it was so hot my feet felt like they were on fire half of the time. Sorry, I am never wearing those again, so shut the fuck up about my motherfucking shoes.”

  Both men stopped and stared at the goofy guy; he was glaring at them, well fuck a duck, Loki thought. This bastard was legit. Then like someone flipped a switch the man smile and turned to look in his bag.

  Anthony stared at Loki; the two had come to terms on the flight. They stopped their pissing contest when they both heard the latest update, which had Loki’s mother being tried in two days, and Jaci being hunted down by the government. They agreed that getting the two women out of there was more important.

  “Whatever,” Loki said, and then ran through their plan one more time. They had argued throughout the whole plan, but finally, they all agreed. “Okay, so I will go to the last coordinates where Jaci was at.”

  Anthony gritted his teeth. They had gotten into an argument when it came to w
ho was going where. Jaci was in a shack somewhere in the middle of the city, in the slums. While Carole was in the jail on the other side of the town. Anthony still had his credentials from the military, which worked in their favor. The JAG lawyer had been delayed. Fling had already replaced his name with Anthony’s. Also, if the government did any research into Carole, they would find out about Loki. They were not chancing it. So they were splitting up. The fight wasn’t really about not being able to save his sister, it was because the hippie was going to be his secretary.

  “Yeah, and before showing up at the prison, I have to take the stoner shopping, so he doesn’t look like a reject from the seventies,” Anthony had said, and Shadow had protested.

  “Dude, I don’t think that is a good idea. I mean, there are some places where my face is still on wanted posters, not sure if it is here or not, but just saying,” the man had said with a smile and Loki had shaken his head.

  “The alternative is you going to Jaci and me going with Anthony, and that is so not going to happen.”

  Shadow had shrugged and said, “Maybe we should keep me as a floater, you know, in case I am needed.”

  So had begun what Loki had thought of in his head as the Cluster Fuck Debate.

  The pilot stuck his head out, and he motioned. “Good to go, we will be waiting for your signal to come and pick you up. But I have to tell you, there is a possibility you will need a backup plan.”

  “Yeah, we know,” Loki said and nodded to the other two men. They were going to need to find transportation somewhere, but until then, Loki pulled out his navigator and looked on the screen. He had set the coordinates already from where Jaci had been located last. He hoped she was still there because if the reports were right, they needed to make this shit happen quickly.

  They exited the plane and moved directly to the tree line where the pilot had pulled close to. Once they got there, Loki looked back and watched the small plane turn and take off. From here on out, until they contacted for a ride, they were on their own. No one was going to be able to help them. They had a SAT phone, and that was it.